Nineteen Fires in Vientiane Capital over Past Two Months

(KPL) Nineteen fires have been reported over the past two months resulting from bad electric circuits, burning candles, and incense according to a briefing by the Vientiane FirePrevention andProtectionPoliceDepartment earlier this week.

The department revealed that accidental fire occurred 19 times over the past two months of this year. One of the fires left considerable damage while the remaining caused only minor damage. This is an increase when compared to the same period last year.

The fires over the past two months left damage estimated at over one billion kip (US$125,000) to local businesses, vendors and local people in Vientiane Capital, according to Lieutenant Colonel Chanthaboun Manivong, Chief of Vientiane FirePrevention andProtectionPoliceDepartment, who gave the briefing on March 14.

Mr Chanthaboun said that the fires were proven to have been caused by faulty electric circuits, and burning candles and incense.

Lieutenant Colonel Chanthaboun added that authorities of the fire department had faced some challenges including narrow roads, late notifications, and insufficient water supply.

In 2016, there were a total of 76 fires including forest fires that were caused by circuit, candles, and incense which is used during worship activities.

“Fire fighters are ready fire emergencies around the clock. Currently, there are 19 fire fighting trucks available for emergencies.We do our best to arrive as quickly as possible, but we do face some challenges, especially if the electricity being supplied to the building has not been shut off.Electricity and water don’t mix.

In addition, the location where we fill our trucks is quite far outside of the city.This can cause problems if there are multiple fires.Sometimes we are able to use tap water, but these problems need to be resolved,” said Mr Chanthaboun.